{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_26339/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_26339","id":"gutenberg_26339","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26339","summary":null,"tags":["Amusements","Category: How To ...","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Fortune-telling"],"text":"Produced by Ruth Hart\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Transcriber's note: for this online edition I have added a Table of\nContents and have indicated section breaks with three asterisks.\nAlso I have made the following spelling changes: Chapter II:\n\"shapened like a shephard's\" to \"sharpened like a shepherd's\";\n\"course in leaves\" to \"coarse in leaves\". Also the sentence\nbeginning \"This is a retrospective day for your soul\" is incomplete.\nChapter IV: \"agrandizement\" to \"aggrandizement\"; \"repoductions\" to\n\"reproductions\". Chapter VI: \"sitting ud\" to \"sitting up\". Chapter\nVII: \"Chapter V\" to \"Chapter VII\". A Few Toasts: \"murmer\" to \"murmur\".\nThree Great Commanders: \"Owen Meridith\" to \"Owen Meredith\".\nEntertainment Suggestion: \"calender\" to \"calendar\". Characters\nin Finger Nails: \"strickly\" to \"strictly\". Strange Wills: \"There\nhave been many\" to \"There have not been many\", and \"MacCaig\" to\nMacCraig\". Something to Remember: \"Spender Percival\" to \"Spencer\nPerceval\".]\n\n\nCUPOLOGY.\nHOW TO BE ENTERTAINING.\nINTERESTING FACTS FOR BOTH YOUNG AND OLD.\nTOASTS -- GEMS.\nHOW TO TELL AGE.\n\n\nPUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, CLARA.\n\n\nCINCINNATI, OHIO:\nPRINTED BY FRANK H. VEHR.\n1904.\n\n\nEntered according to Act of Congress in the year 1904, by CLARA, in\nthe office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.\n\n\nTABLE OF CONTENTS\n\n             Inspired Cup-Reading.\nChapter I.   Helpful Hints for Friendly Social Gatherings.\nChapter II.  One Year Later.\nChapter III. The Woman's Era of National Import.\nChapter IV.  Mystical Cup.\nChapter V.   The Acquisitive Adept.\nChapter VI.  Three Coquettes.\nChapter VII. Superstition.\n\nCupology\nPopular Toasts\nThree Great Commanders\nA Hint on Entertaining\nLook at Your Cup\nEntertainment Suggestion\nHave a Peanut\nWhat the Eyes Tell\nRevealed by the Thumb\nCharacters in Finger Nails\nBeauty's Seven Nurses\nTo Discover a Woman's Age\nHow He May Be Won\nDew Drops\nBirth Stones for Luck\nKruger's Unlucky Diamond\nStrange Wills\nLaughagraphs\nThe Man Who Can Make Us Laugh\nQueer Blunders\nA Mysterious Telegram\nFortune\nDead Easy\nA Bad Spell of Weather\nFor An Evening Game\nSomething to Remember\nThe Four Leaved Shamrock\n\n\nINSPIRED CUP-READING.\n\nNot Mere Fortune Telling.\n\n[_From Sun-Flower_.]\n\n\nPROPHECY.\n\n\"Prophecy is the science of being able to sense the casual\ninfluences or vibrations governing the person or subject on\nwhich the consciousness is centered, and knowing the purport\nor meaning of these influences. To the non-sensitive this has no\nexistence, and he must judge the future by surface effects\nentirely--his knowledge of human character or of the subject to\nwhich he is devoted. A feeling of peace or quietude; that which\ndisturbs or irritates; animates or enervates; engenders joy or\ngloom; that which attracts or repels without visible effects, are\nsome of the sensations experienced and have their specific\nmeanings, which must be grouped, counter-effects considered,\nand conclusions drawn from this to make the forecast or outline\nof the subject's future. To avert mistakes, however, the reader of\ndestinies must have sufficient self-knowledge to distinguish his\nown influences or vibrations from those sensed in others and\nnot combine them as coming from one source. Every individual\nis governed by this 'cause upon him,' and if he studies himself\nhe can become his own prophet.\"\n\n[Illustration: horseshoe]\n\n\n     THE FOUR-LEAF CLOVER.\n\n     ELLA HIGGINSON.\n\n     I know a place where the sun is like gold,\n          And the cherry blooms burst with snow,\n     And down underneath is the loveliest nook,\n          Where the four-leaf clovers grow.\n\n     One leaf is for hope, and one is faith,\n          And one is for love, you know;\n     And God put another one in for luck--\n          If you search you will find where they grow.\n\n     But you must have hope and you must have faith.\n          You must love and be strong, and so,\n     If you work, if you wait, you will find the place\n          Where the four-leaf clovers grow.\n\n\nOMENS IN THE TEA CUPS.\n\nWhen, after making the tea, you forget to replace the lid of the\nteapot, expect a caller to drop in and share with you the cup that\ncheers.\n\n\nSENSING OF ATMOSPHERES.\n\nHOW TO BE ENTERTAINING.\n\nREADING FROM TEA OR COFFEE CUPS.\n\nAs delineated by a Cincinnati lady on different occasions,\nfor the pleasure of guests, both young and old, who became\ndesirous of acquiring this fine art, this character reading gift.\n\n[Illustration: calligraphy flourish 1]\n\n\n     THE GRACE WE SAY TO GOD.\n\n     [JEAN INGELOW.]\n\n          So take joy home,\n     And make a place in thy great heart for her,\n     And give her time to grow and cherish her;\n     Then will she come and oft will sing to thee\n     When thou art working in the furrows; ay,\n     Or weeding in the sacred hour of dawn.\n     It is a comely fashion to be glad--\n     Joy is the grace we say to God.\n\n\nLOVE'S SECRETS READ.\n\nThese revelations are honestly dedicated to bright folks, who\nstudy human needs, and to such as possess and inspire a bit of\nhigh-soul, creative imagination, as well as to humanitarians,\nwho become capable of knowing, advising and showing the\nbetter sides of life by lofty mental concentration, which ever\nlifts the thinker into the special soul atmosphere of each\nseparate mentality, by the power of attraction and repulsion,\nverily, by the cosmic law of life, gaining thereby deeper insight\ninto what seemeth best to think and to do for self and for others.\n\nBelieving that these, my life-long experiences, will prove both\ninstructive and highly entertaining, I am happy to send forth\nthese _talismanic_ best thoughts, which may indeed become\nnoble and satisfying possessions to many active and wisely\napplying minds, for the healthful enjoyment of their friends and\nassociates.\n\n[Illustration: fan]\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nHELPFUL HINTS FOR FRIENDLY SOCIAL GATHERINGS.\n\nFirst cup turned was by a tall, handsome girl, who, herself,\npossesses keen imagination with true power for character-reading,\nand with love for the study of the occult sciences.\n\nIn her very first turn, the sky with misty scenes and an _airship_\nwere traced well up in the lines surrounding the lady.\n\nHigh, sailing hopes, said the reader. You are gifted beyond the\nordinary. You love books, study and art; do not yet care for any\ndomestic duties. You are in cloud-lands.\n\nIn her second toss, the reading was as follows:\n\nYou are a little more practical. Here is formed a dusting-brush,\nalso a _kitchen_ and yard with a happy family of _chickens_,\nmeaning cares and pets; also a _horse_ and _sleigh_. You love\nluxuries. You have traveled over land and seas. The _ferry-boat_\nis here.\n\nI read now in your third, the certainty, though not fully, noting\nsome of the minor events. Everything has changed from your\npresent thinking. You have climbed the ladder to some public\nrecognition by the influence of friends. You have yet much to\nachieve--will become a real benefactress. So I read by the\npeople before you. The two _stars_ yet beyond, and the _sword_\nwhich belongs to your family, represent some hero in wars yet to be.\n\nThe national bird, either an _eagle_ or _turkey_, promises good\nresults.\n\nThe trials of others will fall upon you, all through life. Your\nviews here are full of the different objects. A tall visitor will\ngive you a surprise, attended by coming pleasure, and a new\nfriend; also a _foe_--a _spider_. You have been disappointed in\nthree different forms, one is yet to entail a financial loss_--fish_,\nyou see, have their heads and tails cut off; and the _rings_ are\nbroken for some past and present enterprise. You are learning\nmental philosophy, also, from a male relative to whom you are\nvery dear.\n\nHow truly and wonderfully you have read! I have also gained an\nidea how to trace and to hold the mind in other special desires.\nThanks to you for this lesson.\n\n          * * *\n\nThe next was a dainty, little, self-conscious lady, who is\ndesirous of some special, social accomplishment, aside from her\nsisters. She is very cunning. See the little head of the _fox_ near\nher, though vexations are with her now, yet the three similar\nlittle straight forms, or lines, are realizations, as in this cup, of\nsome pleasant event. The _road_ here in view, a short and\nagreeable journey, upon which you meet a lady friend who is to\nvisit you soon. These upper _dots_ are letters and small\npackages near at hand, with two little _hearts_--love secrets.\n\nYou will, said the reader, receive many. One, that is in present\nexpectation, containing an invitation affording pleasure. The\n_flowers_ bespeak it, being near the edge of the cup, with the\nformation of letters. H will be the initial of one of the writers.\nNow, you have a _little man_ who is to be cut off from some\ndesire--a broken _road_ is near him--with a period of indecision\nand anxiety. Two male forms are holding his desires by their\nneglect, not by malice. The wish is in their power, you see, yet\nthey are looking away from it.\n\nYour third is with tears for a friend, though no death symbol is\nnear. Ah, here it is! You are to wed with a fair gentleman, not\nyour slight form--first love. You will be fairly happy. Confusion\nis shown by the various objects in crooked and wavy lines, with\nthose tiny _crosses_, many little cares, and yet the _tree_ shades\nthe _house_. Your _castle_ on the highway with the little child's\n_crib_ and the _parrot_, an imitative, impudent inmate of the\nhome.\n\nNow, let your own fancy roam over these formations. Set them\nin your mind. I have reserved this gift of love for the last sitting.\nDo you see the _jeweled ring_ with the light flashing for you?\nThat will come when years have flown. You will be a widow.\nThat event will benefit your entire family, as the _wavy lines_\nand _tears_ indicate, so do not lose heart. This late blessing is\nenough to inspire courage and patience. Yes, it is for your\nhousehold. Do you see the broad sky-scenes? That is good.\n\n          * * *\n\nNext: _A hay-mound_ and a _field_. You love rural life, young\nman.\n\nI do, said he, as a retreat and recreation. This _square_ promises\nyou a business house in a commercial city. See the stacks of\nletters and the figures 3, 7, 10,--and the many heads of men in\ncalculation.\n\nNow you stand by an open grave. Your dearest friend has died.\nThe dark cloak enfolds your form and your wish--_the circle_--\nis in doubt. _Spears_ and _weeds_ are near it, also a crude\n_cross_. A time of dissatisfaction will come to you before three\nyears have passed, yet there are promises beyond. Cast, now,\nfor the better times for certainty.\n\n          * * *\n\nThird: _Friends, horses, dogs, birds, trees_.\n\nIn touch with life's blessings you possess a kind, social nature--\na _stream_ of clear water. Health and friends in plenty, great\nactivity. You are to rise above many ills.\n\nA broken _bridge_ is at the far end of this _road_, but your face\nis turned away, in this you are spared an evil, be wise. The\nSouth will offer you last and final protection. See, the light is\nshading in that direction. An _old lady_ will be your faithful\nfriend. There will be also a trusty _colored man_--see how he\nstands in _line?_ Your last years will be in rural life, with a\nfamily and an income with fair surroundings. The space is clear.\nYou see light is over your last scenes. See the young girl--no\ndoubt your daughter--under the beautiful fruit trees?\n\nOrange groves in the sunny South, said he, smiling.\n\nMost important for yon appears a distant battle-scene with deep\nsorrows. Some great personal honors in life for a son. Yes, an\nAmerican battle scene with the _eagle_ distant, yet sure to gain\nthe day.\n\n\nSOME NATIONAL CRISIS.\n\nNEXT READING.\n\n_Key_ to the situation. See, it is within a short time, only a little\nway from the edge of the cup.\n\nGood, said the recipient, I know what that is now, am glad of it.\n\nWell, you are, however, to weep over the matter soon, as\nspeaking to some friend of this affair. There is much to it. See\nthe _cross_ and _tears_, as holding up the cup. Yet you would\nnot now dream that there are complications in this affair. Three\nfactions, yet all in positive expectations, though fight is coming.\nSee the little _dog_, how angry, and the _cat_, with her back up,\nand the other animal with a spring? Why here. Can't you see it!\nOf course it's not quite as distinct as a real dog and cat fight.\nOne of the animals is retreating from the scene in fear. Your\nfaces are all turned in the same direction, you know each other.\n\nWell, the _crescent_ is in the lower part of the cup. Some later\nnews--also the fine _horse_, a _friend_ with some testimonial of\nappreciation. A _wreath_ and victory. Here are several _letters,\n_one containing news of death. The _coffin_ is here for the little\nchild. Many tears are shed by two women--each looks into the\ngrave.\n\nAh, the spite lines! See them, there are little jealousies, too. We\nall have these to content with, said the reader, especially if we\never rise above the common level of life and as independent\nthinkers.\n\nAn illness of importance is now developing an event long ago\nforetold to your family. A fine steed comes from another city\nthrough a church-yard, much resembling Trinity E of New York\nCity. Some _letters_ follow--see the succession of _dots_ and\n_squares. Houses_ of _smoke, news_ and _trailing objects_,\nrepresenting deep-laid intrigues.\n\nNow you are aboard a steamer on the broad ocean. A tall,\nmilitary looking man is with you, also a young man and woman.\nSomething of importance has taken place in your national\nlife and in your financial position, as well as in political\nand church affairs. See the crowing _cock_ and the _stork_, a\nchange that is to play its part for the tall man. _Flags_ are\nwaving. You will all return to a new life in America. The\nsurprising change is for a public man.\n\nNEXT READING.\n\nAn enemy is for you, sir, in your present conditions of duty.\nSome spoil is here. A _ditch_, a _wasp_, and _serpents_ at the\ntop with tongues out. If you are now in politics or litigation\ndefeats await you, for the _briars_ are thick and a blind man at a\ndesk holds some document. You appear to be very expectant,\nthough fearing something. A woman is also against you. See,\nher head is up. She is fair in appearance and influential, yet\nfalse. Some men are back of her acts.\n\nDark complexioned people are, at present, your better allies and\nfriends. Some doctor stands by your side, see his medicine\nchest, he is of fine mind. A straight path lies between you,\nthough some road is cut in two; you are to be disappointed in an\nenterprise. _Wheels _are broken. This is connected with cars,\nengines and automobiles--have care.\n\nYour mind is often too ready to speed forward. Things are so\nconfusing.\n\nNow concentrate on the future. You are enmeshed by others.\nYour social affairs, too, are meddled with by your family and\npseudo friends. See the quacking _duck_ and the distant\n_goose_, with dots, letters, etc. See the heads put together, with\nmixture of objects before them. No symbol of peace is in this\nrealm, no light nor clean spots are as yet seen as results to you.\n\nAh! here. It is a _long road_ into new conditions. Anger and\nloss cause you to turn away from the dark and vexing things.\nOne true friend will follow. See the _straight form_ and the\n_dog_ and _wheat_--that signifies great good as in clean\nsheaves. That will be your best destiny in a new life-deal--far\nwestward--some treasure in minerals, too. See the rocks shining\nforth.\n\n          * * *\n\nNext: The _monkey_ and the _skunk_! For a moment the\nhostess and the reader exchanged words. \"I wonder if there is\nsuch an object now in our midst! I am full of laugh, though not\nin the belief of such a fact. Oh, it is too amusing how these\nobjects will form. I wish some one else to see this strange cup.\"\n\nThis gentleman has need to be most cautious in some of his\nundertakings. Do not deal with uncertain characters--see the\n_monkey_ and the _cat-tiger_ or _skunk_ looking object--lest\nsome vile scandal becomes your lot. _Cross-roads, hollows_,\nand _eels_--slippery things--are near your _present wishes_.\nThe _keys, circles, anchor, squares, links_--these represent\nrealizations. Yours are in other lines, yet a _bell_ is traced near\nyou. A belated wish lies under cover. It is in a field not yet in\nyour thoughts, though an _anchor_, a human form and a crooked,\nbroken path lie yet beyond that.\n\nTHIRD TOSS.\n\nNow is revealed some disaster to friends, confusion and a large\nfamily _whirlwind_, also, some obstinate man--see the _rickety\nteam_ with the _mule_ in the lead, as running away--a woman\nin black as the outcome. See how she climbs the steep, jagged\nhill. Your face is turning towards her in mutual friendship. The\n_moon_ shines on the top of the mountain--your destination.\nYou will no doubt wed with the widow--this woman in black.\n\nSome of the first lines hit very close to facts, said he.\n\nI know it, said the lady, and there is very much to read. I do not\nknow all that may transpire before this occurs, yet you will have\na numerous progeny--many relatives. See the people and the\nletters from the different localities, again true. You will live to\nadvanced age--see the grand _old tree_. You will ever have care\nover others. The man-mule is to meet his natural death. His\nrespected widow and household are to become your high possessions.\n\nThe mules and the whole team? said he. Thank you, there is\nhappiness in store.\n\nNo doubt as elevated step-father to this numerous family. You\nare a genius in this art reading, so fanciful.\n\n          * * *\n\nNext expectant:--A Civil Engineer with fondness for travel and\n_inventions_. Perhaps you will also write books on some new\nmethods in heating houses--an _oven_ and _tubes_ are in\nformation; so also a tall man at his desk with pencils. I do like\nto get something worth reading, but here is a break-down,\nsomething really thrilling--the mountain topples over on the\nroad. You are soon to be, or have been, in great peril. I also see\na _fireman_. Do you see his hat?\n\nThe man smiled, yet confessed, as I read on.\n\nYou carry an atmosphere that aids the reading. You have had an\nescape by not being at the \"Windsor\" that special afternoon.\n\nHe was surprised. \"She is a fine guesser,\" said the young man,\nhighly pleased.\n\nAgain, you cherish a happy hope in an elderly couple. They are\nyour true friends. You are now all in the same lines of thought.\nOh, there is a modest, young lady coming to the elderly folks.\nShe is now away in some large building--a school, I think. You\nwill _love her_. She has a lover who writes to her--you do not--\nyet the signs are to be favorable to both of you. Now for the last\ntoss.\n\nI am disappointed in your efforts. Oh, how it storms! See the\nsnow-flakes and the great stream of water! I really feel its cold\ncurrents now. Something is to be destroyed by it ere you meet\nthe lady. She is in the bottom of the cup. Why have you left her\nso long. I can hardly find her. You will need to strive for your\ngood fate.\n\nShe is to pass out of your life I think some years before you do,\nyet you will live an active life. Many artistic _new roads_ and\nthe _plough. _You will create something truly beautiful--see the\n_pedestal_ amid the landscape--the _swing _and _gardening_.\nHow _restful_ it makes me feel! You will be so, sometime,\nyoung man.\n\nOBJECT LESSONS.\n\nNow, young ladies, concentrate your minds and let us note the\nsymbols, if your wish really to have views and comprehensive\nenjoyment, so that what is shown in each cup may be at the\nclose interestingly connected. Like in a Primer, let us go\nstraight through. You have heard other readings, develop your\ndescriptive faculties. Do not stop till done to discuss in detail,\nthereby losing the best effects, and you will thus find some\ninteresting results. You see how most persons like to lift the veil\nto revelations. Much progress lies before us all.\n\nSURPRISED.\n\nJust look here, Florence, said the amateur, _rings_ and a\n_sunrise_, not out of the clouds either. Look, too, at the oval\nforms like _eggs. _At home we can't get such cups. Here we are\nin the higher waves. We are determined to read something to\ninspire others, as you read to us, said the girls with eagerness.\n\nBut, which one of you ladies turned the cup? I ought to have\ndirected my occult forces on one at a time. Now, you need to\ndivide honors and loss.\n\nThe one who is herein represented is in a most happy frame of\nmind. I wish it were the test cup--the third and certainty--for the\nsake of the fortunate lady and her family, then your destiny\nwere assured and your mentality would advance into lofty\nchannels by the influence of an elderly couple and their\nprogressive _sons_, for here is a _tower_ of moral strength.\n_Hearts, circles, Bible_ and _clovers_ are in the life-path. The\nskies, too, are clear and every thing is high up you see in\noptimism.\n\nLet us now to business. Ah! here it is--gains. A large _goose\negg_ is in shape, also a _nest_. That is the home, though a great\ncare has fallen into it. See the rain and these many little crosses\nhere together so near the _nest_, which, in this turn, is the\nhome, as there is no other symbol for it; now you can trace the\nsquare as the home-hearts also.\n\nYou are kind and come from sympathetic people who love\ntruth, books and progress, as does this Bible family. An old man\nwho is in another city will write. See the _M._, the _letters _and\nthe _road_. There being no form of a man you take the initial.\nHe may be _sixty-one _years of age; see, the numbers are\ntouching the _M_.--man--in the midst of the dots. _Sticks _and\n_crossties_ with _wavy lines--_common vexations.\n\nDo not worry. Though you are now apprised of a large theft\nwhich may come into your home. See the sly _rat_--a thief or\nburglar hovers nigh, have care. You have a few events in Jupiter\nstill left.\n\nHow is it to be read?\n\nEach reader must speak as the momentary inspirations come to\nsuit occasions: We must promise the best, to stimulate _all_\ngood efforts, not only for self.\n\nWell, you are really good and correct. I feel elevated by this\ninteresting reading.\n\nWe are delighted and shall share together this life-reading. Our\nfamilies are very dear to each other and may be still further\nunited. Then she blushed slightly, as whispering confidentially.\n\nOh, it's lovely, said the two girls, as others said the fates had\nfavored them most of all.\n\n          * * *\n\nSeveral of the readings were too ordinary, just as many people\nare in truth, who contribute nothing for the benefit of higher\nthought and action, while others were not in good mental states\nnor in their lucky days, as they said, and as is partly true.\n\nOne young man, a news-gatherer, could get nothing as all things\nlay distant and for others. \"My life is to be forever blocked,\"\nsaid he though feigning total scepticism, yet a tone of\ndisappointment was quite apparent when told that six months\nhence he should have a comprehensive word with new hopes.\n\nYou are in the wrong world, and somehow I felt that he would\nbe fairly driven into his real vocation by a lucky circumstance,\nfor Mother Nature is ever kind to her children, though needing\nall honest co-operation. Those keen eyes with fine perceptives\nand vivacious mentality would direct his impulses eventually,\nfor the power of reason and resource lay within his then,\nsomewhat undecided, brain, so have faith in your higher\ndestiny, friends.\n\n[Illustration: calligraphy flourish 2]\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nONE YEAR LATER.\n\nBeing patient and obliging, said a young lady, has cheated me\nout of my rights so many times. I was to have a reading that\nnight at the home of Mrs. M. C. for I served with hopes and\nglad expectations into each dainty cup of aromatic coffee that I\npoured, yet, as usual, did not get my reading. Never have. I had\neither palm reading, cup or solar biology forecast, though\npromised each. Oh, I was so disappointed, for it was my desire\nto learn your special, catchy methods, and to note the sensations\ncast upon me as under the magic spell. I cannot formulate the\nthings you do, though my friends praise me unstintingly.\n\nYou shall not be longer denied, said the adept. Get a cup of\ncoffee or tea, if not too coarse in leaves, after we lunch. I will\nread them, as we can be alone with our atmospheric thought\nadvisers and our higher selves. I know that your life and labors\nwill abound in good. Many excellent things await your efforts,\nyet do not now think that my auto thoughts will be my full\nguides.\n\nOh, thank you. How nice the conditions are to be alone with\none's future expectations. No one can then pervert what is\npromised. I am now most expectant, am glad I have waited for\nthis propitious time. I love this little room with its dainty\nfurnishings.\n\nFIRST READING.\n\nYou possess fine spiritual gifts; are morally high-toned; you\nbuild many castles--just see the _mountains_ and _balloons_,\nthe _tower_ in the distance. You could study palmistry and\noccult laws to fine advantage. It has become so respectable, too,\nyou know. Yet few do excel, though many attempts are made.\nTry it, you are very susceptible to every personality; you have a\nvery retentive memory with large formative powers. Just the\nrequisites with your mentality for doing good to poor humanity.\nAs a wise teacher you could excel.\n\nSECOND CUP.\n\nFlurries of wind and storms--confusion in your home and heart--\n_crooked lines_ with a _crude cross_ and a _sodden log_, out\nof which will rise a _broken anchor_--lost hopes or wishes.\nNow, an ugly thing is discerned. See the _spitting_ of _cats_\nand the _angry dog_. That is some disagreeable quarrel between\nfriends of yours. A gentleman will pass through cruel loss and\nchange. Nothing good is yet promised to present wishes.\n_Serpents_ are lying low in the grass--see their heads, you will\nsuffer thereby--your head now lays low in some severe illness.\nFate is silent and sad for a time, as in mourning for the sorrows\nof the good and true. See you the _shaft_, draped like a funeral\npall across the cup? You are also to bury a friend, a worthy\nminister. The people mourn. Now let us invoke the kindly\npowers to a solution of the many evils cast by contending\nconditions of jealousies and spite. Let your soul be possessed\nand purified, for now I know that you are truly one of the\nchosen few who are tried by the fierce fires and floods of life.\nThis is a retrospective day for your soul--growth beyond your\nrealization of [sentence is unfinished].\n\nFINAL INFLOW.\n\nA seriousness had fallen over both of them as touching on the\nlive issues of frail, human hopes and fears, so that each felt the\nneed of that great unseen, yet ever-living power divine. What a\nstrange cup-reading it was in the end! Wonderful to both of\nthem, yet they somehow tarried, as though fearing to reveal the\ncertainty chapters, as you now know the third is designated, yet\nthe soul was sated.\n\nWealth, in some physical form, I find is the great desire, more\neven than love or friendship, so that I repeat the golden words\nof the poet, though knowing the need of money for worthy\npurposes. There will be for us just enough of the pure coin, not\nthis \"God of greed.\"\n\n\n     THE GOLDEN GOD.\n\n     [THOMAS HOOD.]\n\n     Gold! gold! gold! gold!\n     Bright and yellow, hard and cold;\n     Molten, graven, hammered and rolled;\n     Heavy to get and light to hold;\n     Hoarded, bartered, bought and sold,\n     Stolen, borrowed, squandered, doled;\n     Spurned by the young, but hugged by the old\n     To the very verge of church-yard mould,\n     Price of many a crime untold;\n     Gold! gold! gold! gold!\n\n\nThen said the psychometrist: Now, look with me into this cup.\nLet us, together, trace the final symbols, now that we are united\nas true friends.\n\nThe form of a woman--see her head and her garments blown\nforward, the wind is at her back. She goes now with some\nstrong, public tide. That is well. In this clear field there is\nrecognition for you. An _electric street light_--that, too, is some\npublic good in process for your sharing;--and here is like a\nflowing stream. The mountains are, also, again in view. Each\neffort holds in a life-reading like this. Some rubbish before\nreaching the heights.\n\nBut look! Oh, behold the _moon_ behind the hills. See, it is\nsurely beginning to rise. Let your mind now concentrate on its\nsublime glory. It is the best kind of promise. Honors await\nyourself and another member of your family. A full moon\nsignifies that other events have poured their treasures into\nconditions which have required time. Your moon is not yet over\nthe full scenes of your life. The sunrise, too, appears! How\nsublime! Here is the stout man--your future husband with a\nchild at his side. A man of affairs, with the _triangle_ and a\n_ship_ of _state_, and here are the roses growing. You will be\ngreatly beloved. The _key_ and the _ring_ are in the bottom of\nthe cup. You will become equal to your high social duties as\nmistress of the _castle_, and mother of two well endowed\nchildren, who will bless and survive you. The latter years of\nyour life will be the most richly frought. See, the bottom of the\nthird cup, also, has the clear streams.\n\nI shall expect you to wed with this stout, dark complexioned\nman, whose wife lies in the little grave that was in the second\ntoss of the cup. We can now join the parts fittingly together, by\nnoting first, second and this final. We may now attach other\nstraying symbols as holding them in mind.\n\nThank you, ah, so much. I have gained real knowledge from this\nvery interesting object-lesson reading, which stimulates my\nhigher mental action with courage and purpose. Some things\ndelineated I now believe as true. The first _cups_ were a\nveritable marvel, yet too sadly comprehensive. I am greatly\nindebted to you for this most infatuating pleasure, proving the\nold adage, that the last do sometimes come first, by their\npatience. We all need just such talks sometimes. These are\nbeyond the mere realms of pastime, said the reader, who was\nthen inspired of God.\n\nHALLOWEEN REVELATIONS.\n\nTHE ENERGETIC MAN OF HIGH PURPOSE POLITICALLY.\n\nHere is an important cup. A long bridge. You are now in\ncomprehensive touch with a subject-matter that ought to lead\nyou with your family into ease and prominence. Have patient\ncare after you have reached the seeming goal, for, see here still\nthe danger signal from the broken cart of past obstruction with\nthe cross-ties. Do not retreat in dismay. A bridge is of good\nsignificance unless you fall between, or it is broken while you\nare facing it or are thereon. You must be strong. In your trials,\nbeing magnetic, your forces will bring help to aid you by mental\nsuggestions.\n\nBut see this elephant, tossing about at the end of the bridge--\nsome imposition upon your family. See, the house being in\ntouch, you will lose by the elephant, as letters with many lines\nmean vexation--strayed or stolen letters--and dead birds are on\nthe ground. The rabbit is some coward. Do not mind this, you\nwill yet gain significant prestige by the aid of an old man on the\nnew path. See him nearing the _trees_ in luxurious foliage--a\ntrue friend.\n\nNow we sum up gains. You have striven. See the three rings or\nwreaths, the sunburst, and the distant tower clearly defined in\nthe light. Victory over loss and cowardice of friends. You are\nhappy and secure.\n\nThe summing up represents the home several years hence.\nMany scattered objects have cleared away the defeats belonging\nto your life, in order to round it out symmetrically. There is\ngood cheer. Think of the toiling masses as becomes a true\ndisciple of the Christ. You will be in position to manifest\nto the world some vital principle. Be not then enslaved by\ntime-serving, selfish man. Stand by the flag of your nation in\nhonest and worth. Your star shines high.\n\nWOMAN OUT OF THE SHADOWS.\n\nFACTS FORETOLD.\n\nMany streams--mental changes. Though here is a great symbol,\nthat of the ancients--the serpent--being wisdom. This one is of\ndifferent significance. See how its long body has taken up\nspace. The tail is three-forked and downward, the head being\nturned around, sharpened like a shepherd's crook, lower than the\nbody. Deception--intrigue--house of sickness--see the crosses\nand losses? The one tossing such a cup has been assailed in\nvarious ways. Look now well to the above outlines which still\nhold a splendid promise. Arches overhead--cannot be vanquished.\n\nSYMBOLS FOR A JUDGESHIP.\n\nFATEFUL SPITE-LINES WITH WOMAN.\n\nAppearances do oft deceive, good reader, though the cup figures\nhit my case correctly, beyond words of mine, as to past and\nsome present events. May the future be as well verified, and I\nsomehow believe it will be. You say the flame is now on after\ntwenty-two long years of defeat; I also cross the water often, as\nyou read, am soon to locate in a large eastern city. May this\nflame you describe possess my mind and heart as now.\n\nAnd your conscience, sir, the Holy Spirit within the higher self.\nYour symbols urge you to noble deeds, yet you will never be\nblessed by woman's love, nor aid. Do you see the standing\nwell-poised form of a woman? Rising power--creative force. See she\nhas her feet firm on the back of the monster snake. You will\nsoon become master of your higher destiny. I feel inspired by a\nmighty impulse. You will stand before many people--see the\ntall, straight ladder of fame--I should say that you are holding\nsome still-cherished, mighty plans, despite many of life's\ndefeats.\n\nNow, as this is all free play, will you please tell me if this\nleading figure defines any of your conditions truthfully, as to\npolitics? You deeply impress me with the ideas of large affairs.\n\nWill see you later, madam.\n\nThank you cordially.\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nTHE WOMAN'S ERA OF NATIONAL IMPORT.\n\nAN UNUSUAL KALEIDOSCOPE----HUSBAND AND WIFE.\n\nAs the symbols are in uniting conjunction, you may both remain\nto formulate ideas and to delineate. You are no doubt desirous\nof the full enfranchisement of the human race. You seem just\nand liberal, as read by these various lights, amid contentions,\nyet with one central apex--the lighted lamp.\n\nNEXT TOSS.\n\nNo taxation, without due representation. Now, look into this\nremarkable cup, with our Uncle Sam large as American life, one\nfoot raised in forward move, as firmly holding the grand flag of\nthe nation. See, upon it sails in earnestness a tall woman of high\nmodern import. See you these faces? They are no milk and\nwater characters. They come close together, Uncle Sam and the\nwoman, as though to embrace in true love and lasting equality.\nNow, behold the bird ascending the mountain, and the large hen\nand cockrell. Behold the dove still higher up. Justice, wisdom\nand peace must go hand in hand by all the people and for all the\npeople. There is a fine sky scene besides.\n\nHow remarkable are the strong outlines as interestingly touched\nup by creative imagery! Oh, yes, we believe in true freedom as\nwell as in all human rights. I tell you, you are destined to wield\npolitical influence. Fear not, though there is to be very great\ncommotion and strife, as to some bodies of beliefs joining\nforces, There is in evidence a serious national gulf, for a period,\nSee the _seething mass_ below? Yet the large, waving flag is in\nthe midst of it all. See how its ample folds cover the little\npeople! Woman comes into full evidence with man and victory\nsquares these and banners. Now, see you the large moon-faced\nman from over the deep water? Behold the many little people.\nThese represent, without doubt, the toiling masses. See them\nlook to our great flag, Uncle Sam and America. See the guns\nthey leave behind, though they appear well armed by some firm\nrevolves. Some power crowned is near death's gates. There is\nsome peril on the other shores and on this, yet the links for\nchains of co-operation come later on. First, there are spears,\nguns, rasping files; secret orders, too, which shall in due time\nbecome fully known to Uncle Sam, for, see you the boxes and\nthe broken lines, like a serpent yet, living cables with its\nintricate workings. I am stirred by its forces, now international.\nOh, yes, you could learn to read by concentration of mind. This\nis the first time this great combination has been presented to me.\nYour special auras and the cosmic direction in present era of\nhuman action have aided in portraying these objects. Life is full\nof signs of the times. You are thinkers.\n\nNo doubt the reader is, at times, largely dominated by the\nenquirer, though you now prefer to learn of finances. The large\nfish is in evidence, however, not yet at hand. Clouds obscure\ndesires. You will be thrust into this exciting national and more\nequal-rights work, with several men of distinction. See\nthe breast-plates and medallions. This is a suggestive and\ninteresting chapter to me and requires study to apply.\n\nDo you grasp some of the leading ideas? Hold them fast, to\nappropriate as you advance into the vortex of deeper action. See\nhow the steepled church is in evidence. Not so wonderful. Many\nthings photograph themselves for further reading by observation.\nWe are yet in the very infancy of comprehending cause and effect.\n\n_Kismet!_ I detest war, yet mankind is destined to thus make\nthe annals of future history more complete in equity and in\nfraternal justice to humanity. Let us prove that the world is\nreally advancing. This is the fierce and fermenting time, the\nentire world's chemicalizing process. We may all learn from the\ngreat book of life.\n\nThough many noble souls seem vanquished, each actor shall be\nhis own, yet united historian.\n\nThank you. Readings of this character are instructive, even to\nskeptics. Wish we could all read and retain each helpful part. As\none thinks on these lines the fuller atmospheric waves become\nladen with blessings. The Good Book says, \"Ask and ye shall\nreceive,\" so, ask in wisdom and in faith. You are now charged\nwith the desires. Perhaps I do inspire inquiry. Look at these\nlines of chairs in this fine toss, also men.\n\nBirds again--rows of singing birds, and flowers, too--joyous\nexpectations. Man with baton--musical matters, attended by\naudiences. You either are in full touch with singers, or certainly\nwill be. The swing up high is a fine sign. Follow it up with\ncourage, The double triangle, the long road and the unobscured\nstar are before you. These promise you honors and fame. You\nwill know the art of growing old sweetly.\n\nSee the gallery of pictures you have collected. The park and the\npeople, too!\n\nHeaven has blessed you with mental gifts and spiritual graces in\nthe glorious, ever present, because of your doing things with no\ndreaded to-morrow. This is a superb final, for the light lines are\nwithin your daily duties. You will travel together in close\nrelationship--husband and wife, and begin anew very nearly at\nthe same time. It is really an inspiring text. Thus do we learn to\nknow each other in one little hour of life as fulfilling worthy\npurposes by every act divine.\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nMYSTICAL CUP.\n\nTouching, no doubt, on the death of Pope Leo, as also on some\none of the present party somehow connected with nobility. See\nyou the ocean?\n\nHere is a kingly form, robed and crowned, yet standing with\narms and hands filled, symbolizing someone with great plenty\nin foreign lands. At the feet, a severed circle, some disordered\nboxes, a pair of large, closed shears pointing toward another\ncommanding form, though obstacles lie between them. Also a\ncrouching form, in part human, with large eyes, and now, on his\nback a weighty something, facing the less pretentious forms,\none of whom is bowed by some new disappointment, being near\na fallen wall. Some one in mental suffering, as thorns crown one\nof the lesser heads, facing a distant city. Some hidden wrongs\nare to become manifest.\n\nSee the army of men in disorder! Soldiers are in line, too, with\nhorsemen from all sides of the land and waters. Dread dismay,\nyet with keen-edged expectancy in evidence. Behind the kingly\nform there is a tower--strength--though there is the unlighted\ntorch at the top. Some large bird in the back scene will venture\ninto peril. Near the shaft at its base are caverns. On closer\ninspection you can see the vapors arising. You see the entire\nworld appears interested--so many heads of men.\n\nOne of the party had expected some special news from distant\nlands, saying: \"Verily, the atmosphere is filled with these\nthings,\"--Auto thought or otherwise. Secrets after all are not so\nhidden, though I believe this reading to pertain largely to the\ncity of Rome, the Vatican palace and famed historical Tiber.\n\nYou see, we have all been reading the news. We are in this\nfloating ether of thoughts, no matter what little wishes we have\nof our own. Our untutored minds cannot yet apply some of\nthese lessons. Everything is in form atmospheric, to be\nphotographed for tangibleness to our crude senses. How then\ncan we be held in blame for the committal of even some desperate\nacts? Are we not at the perpetual mercy of evil men and\npowers, which blind fair reason?\n\nListen, friends, are there not better objects everywhere? Yet\nmodest things are apt to be overlooked. Are we not dazzled by\npomp and show? Did we not all cry out, \"Oh, what a wonderful\ncup--a king, a king with a crown?\" We must not allow our\nmorals to thus easily hang like conventional cowards. This cup\nof the king's is full of strife. Numerous virtues are not observed.\n\nSee the little tables and the tender vines so choked by grasses,\neven modest flowers by the fallen walls! Let us note these, yet\nglory and pomp are man's highest aim in life. I say we should\nall become a freer people, but we are flattered by show and even\ndespotism. I behold wonderful promises.\n\nThis strong trail is for a long time. See the cutting instruments\nagain. The rasp and the little scissors shadowed beneath the\nlarger symbols. Behold the bed-rock, with crevices to catch the\nfeet, and here, a small road comes near a tunnel, looking\nambitiously towards the large avenue where splendor, prestige\nand power are seen. See modern fashion so careless of the rights\nof others--these poor little people. Yes, I will describe some of\nthese figures, to teach, if so we may, a bit of entertaining,\nbenevolent sense.\n\nAgain, look at this upper row of soldiers, machine-made men.\nSee the trumpets, I can almost hear their blast, and see the dust\nand life-blood of degrading, cruel wars, which impoverish and\ngrind into filth the entire afflicted human race, though there\nare very excellent people of wealth, were there to wisely\nco-operate. There is some promise in this reading. If rich men\ncould become active benefactors--see the little banners--wars\nwould at once end, and the Christ would live with mankind.\n\nMINISTER'S SPEECH.\n\nI cannot believe that a loving, merciful God bids man to further\nwars, strife and blood-shed for mere aggrandizement. It is really\na libel on all progress, grace and moral justice. The God and\ndear Saviors whom I love and honor are not monsters of cruel\nvengeance. There exist so many excellent signs of the good time\nto dawn on the human race, when the tidal wave once really sets\ninto combined, perpetual motion. Let us all desire to thus aid the\nrace along these lines, or in whatsoever ways we can.\n\nI am forever indebted to a dear, high-souled lady, who loved\nyoung folks, for my first deep moral thought-lessons in\ncupology, and in character readings. Life-long impressions and\naids have these brought to many others, in this high-art sensing\nof human needs, therefore let us supply an atmosphere in which\ngood thoughts can germinate, believing that nature has a bank\nwhich is a sure one that can never break. A bank of full justice;\nlife's worthy inheritance; your acts.\n\nNow friends, this collection may end my readings briefly. In\norder to learn one must teach. No, I have not added some of\nthose special past verifications. I try to study the lesser forms as\nwell as the prominent ones to cultivate patient sensing. Observe\nyour feelings towards your friends or pupils. Be honest, sincere,\nand sympathetic in heart to heart talks. Hold confidence reposed\nas a sacred gift. That is one of the secrets of friendship and\nsuccess in every walk through life. Let us believe it so.\n\nFIRE IN VATICAN.\n\nBURNS PART OF LIBRARY WITH BARE AND ANCIENT BOOKS.\n\nThat portion of the Vatican containing the hall of the\ninscriptions, where the Pope gives his audiences, and which is\nadjacent to the famous and precious pinacoteca, or gallery of\npictures, was burned Sunday. The smoke and flames were seen\nfrom a mile distant.\n\nThe first intimation of fire was had when smoke was seen\nissuing from the apartment of M. Mario, which is located above\nthat of Father Earl, the librarian, who lives over the library. M.\nMario is a celebrated French restorer of ancient manuscripts and\nilluminated books. He has been engaged in copying work, and\nhis first reproductions have been selected for part of the\nVatican's exhibit at the St. Louis exposition. It is supposed that\nM. Mario forgot to take proper precautions with his kitchen fire,\nwhich probably blazed up and ignited some nearby hangings.\n\nThe entire museum of inscriptions, the rooms of Father Earl,\npart of the library and the printing houses were entirely flooded\nwith water.\n\nIt is impossible to reach even an approximate idea of the extent\nof damage. Many articles were saved, including some ancient\nand very valuable arms which were recently moved to the\nlibrary from the Borgia apartment in order to make room for the\nnew residence of the papal secretary of state.\n\nMany things that escaped the flames were injured by water,\nespecially the precious private library of Pope Leo.\n\nThe above clipping verifies the reading of the King's cup.\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nTHE ACQUISITIVE ADEPT.\n\nBY A BRIGHT GIRL OF SEVENTEEN.\n\nDear lady, this is not as I should like to promise. You have\nsuffered deeply. Here are dark caverns, crosses, confusion and\nwavy, broken and crooked lines. No good luck to be foretold.\nSo it appears on the surface. You are overcast by sorrow and\nlosses, with death to many present hopes. As holding up the\ncup, gravestones, tears--heart-tears--seems an ill-omened cup,\nyet no one need to be discouraged.\n\nI can now reveal to you, even in this conclusive reading, one\nfair remaining sky-scene, with a little sun-burst, and a distant\nsquare. Examine, also, below the tangled rubbish. See you the\nhead of the little anchor, like some friend in need. Trust still in\nthe good, and such will come to you.\n\nLet no one say they are doomed. This lady is well along in\nyears, therefore, this one fair spot of sky-scene is large enough\nto fill in the remaining periods with joy and hope. I am not\ncontent to skim over the mere surface. Helpful revelations need\nthe deeper, mental searchlight.\n\nBy turning this cup from left to right, the symbols shadow forth\na peaceful old age, up near the sky-light and the evening star.\nThe dots, with little rings--some kindly aid until the close, with\nloving, retrospective hope in the final All Good.\n\nI feel your deep enthusiasms, my friend. God's blessings on\nyou, dear child. You thrill my soul with expectant gladness.\n\nIt proved that a benevolent Boston family opened their\nhospitable doors to this lovely old lady amid her deepest\ndilemmas. Also, a small inheritance came to this star-lit dome\nof her declining life's protection.\n\nA WOMAN'S WINNING CARD.\n\nA woman's winning card is cheerfulness.\n\nShe may be capable of countless self-sacrifices, infinite\ntenderness and endless resources of wisdom, but if she cloaks\nthese very excellent possessions under a garb of melancholy she\nmay almost as well not have them, so far as the ordinary world\nis concerned.\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nTHREE COQUETTES.\n\nTHE FICKLE TRIO--SOCIAL WHIRLWINDS.\n\nYou say, \"Tell us all you see.\" Young ladies, there is a\nmixed-up state of affairs, yet one must use good judgment, so\nsteady your minds for correct appreciation of the kindness of your\nnear associates and friends. These Fourths of July mental\npyrotechnics are not safe playthings, my dear young friends.\nHere are outlined so many love gifts, with pleasures too\nshort-lived. You are pain-giving iconoclasts.\n\nHeart-breakers, said the three, laughing.\n\nYou have spoken correctly, for here are broken, also incomplete\ncircles and squares. These imperfect lines so near the life\nsymbols _key and wish_ with shattered urns and crushed flowers.\nAh! and here are some blighted trees! This is both the spring\ntime of your lives as of the seasons, so have care for the sad\nheart tears you cause and will reap. Lives are oft thus crushed.\nYou are acting your funny parts as now you think.\n\n\"Know thyself,\" young man. Trifle not with the happy, little\nblonde lady, whose widowed mother passes sleepless nights\nthinking of her two pretty daughters. Neither be too attentive to\nthe young matron, whose master carries the dagger by his side.\nL. and H. seem not good letters of names nor localities for you.\nYet, you possess some fine mental gifts. Good books are near.\n\nYou girls will soon drift apart by a stolen letter and some dark\ncloud of distrust, though you will need each other. See you the\nseparate roads, with the harsh wind blowing the leafless\nbranches of the trees? and yet near by shines the beautiful\nmeadow, just beyond your present thoughts. Strive to cultivate\nmore of the duties of needed practical life and hopes. These\nhigh thought signs will not serve you, when life's autumn\ncomes.\n\nNow listen, little Brunette. Accept the old love in about two\nyears. He will return to you from a distance. You smile, yet you\nwill not wed with any one now associated. Do not, then, deceive\nhim. He is keen of mind and heart. See, his sky is clear, and the\nring of promise is in the light.\n\nYes, we can now see these outlines. You are a psychologist.\nYou make us see them, as you desire, young man. Note you\ntheir forthcoming. I cannot impel these realities. Emma is the\ngood name of your best friend, young man. She loves you\nthoughtfully. Cultivate her rare graces. The mirror is clear that\nis near her home. The birds sing and the children are joyful.\nFine symbols. The home-garden, too, is beautiful. Let us trace\nthe lines. The old, sick lady, inmate of the home will die in the\nAutumn. That will be a decisive change for that family. Do not\nallow them to pass out of your kindly care, if real friends you\nwould possess. Lives can be strangely made or unmade oft\ntimes. One must be wise in order to be happy. These pitchers,\nwith stout handles, as here seen, signify some lucky circumstances.\nThe supposed wealth of this globe-trotting, dark clothed lady\nfriend is to have a big fall. See the objects! The trunks are all\nupset and she is in ill temper and very self-willed. See the head?\nA mule is near her.\n\nHow curiously you read some of these things. I shall note them\nmore fully, though you do not compliment us three at all. Are\nwe, then, so soulless in our innocent pleasures? Pray, tell.\n\nI but delineate some truths as your benefactor, and as I am given\nthem for each. You all love popularity and excitement.\n\nOh, yes, things appear true in part, as to a few simple things, yet\nit is very pleasant to hear you read these fanciful figures. I know\nthe lady Emma, also the worrysome, aged, sick woman. I expect\nan upset at her death, yet we hope for good results, though you\npromise me irritating labors by this looked-for change.\n\nHow amusing this big frog, the magician or joker, as you term\nhim. I did not know the tad-pole was so gifted.\n\nSome months later proves the death, and several of the stated\nevents more than verified. With the young folks asking eager\nquestions, the clouds had gathered. The lame man came into\nview. The good time not yet. Confusion and discord revealing\nsome added cares as threaded together by the symbols as\npreviously shown, and from the note-book of the young man.\nThe hated lame man of letters having rudely flustrated the game\nof their lives, yet he was just, though believed to be the cruel\nenemy, from the broken, wavy lines and cutting things about\nhim, then facing towards them. Mental reason, or impressment\nplying its parts as touching these mingled, and confusion\natmospheres, proving that all things affect us, consciously or\notherwise, relating to life.\n\nThese intricate and wonderful relationships--these cosmic laws--\nbind all mankind together for better or, more often, for\nneedless sorrow and trials. Yet here was some good side to\nthese life-lines, for their own choosing, had each been more\nunselfish and just. Are we, then, arbiters of our own fate? It is\nstill an open question to many, though there is a time for all\nthings.\n\nLET US NOT BE FATALISTS.\n\nWe must seize the handle of the subject, when the door is\nwaiting to open. Each association makes some conditions, brief\nor life-long. We are not bound to be enslaved forever, though\nnothing pays but justice, kindness, patience and useful duty, if\npeace we would enjoy here or hereafter.\n\nIN THE CHRIST SPIRIT.\n\nThere is at least one good, guardian angel ever ready to aid in\neach life, my dear young friends. One of these ladies did marry\nthat mentioned first love after many sad disappointments, with\nlittle intrigues, as afterward she said: \"Be neither too fickle, too\nself-opinionated, nor too _submissive_. Be something useful.\nLearn to reason with head, heart and soul.\" The young man is\nstill plodding on in pessimism. This best friend Emma is still\nalone, yet working out some of the noble purposes of her\nhelpful, progressive life, knowing that \"her own will surely\ncome to her\" some good time, and that this brief school-life is\nnot the end of anything nobly sought for. Simulating big things\nallowed the young man to belittle many noble facts in nature,\nthus stunting his manly growth, and overgrowing this chilling\npessimism with smart retorts.\n\nOne really desiring to aid humanity can become inspired into\nconsistent kindness, well centered in the lines of forecast, as\nalso in the cup reading pleasure. So observe the figures, point\nthem out, summing up as these gems of thought come to life.\nOne too lazy or disobliging cannot grow these many latent\npowers. These are as yet but dimly apprehended. All persons\npossess some special gift. God meant it so, and that we give\nhope and joy in all honest ways. So try your gift in this\nmingling of your aspirations for lofty expressions, which\ntransmit pleasing convictions, strange as at first these may\nappear. Each soul, as reading or listening, creates an atmosphere\nof either flippancy, depression, courage, trust, or some vital\npower.\n\nSome persons there are, who make us feel happy and well by\nsimply looking at us, or thinking of us, with that subtle power\nthat cures one of melancholia, discouragement, or irritability.\nWriting a letter with a soul is good. You know there is the soul\nof things, a fact in nature. I know of many cases, on turning\nbackward in memory's pages. One special one of a dear musical\nfriend, who became very ill from over-work, with nervous\nheadache and sick stomach, so that all hope of an expected\nmusical evening had to be abandoned, as she took her bed in\ndisgust, with sore disappointment. About an hour later, not\nentirely unexpected, there called at her home a beloved brother,\nwhose melodious voice in song proved to the lady better than\nany medicine, as he quietly sat down to the piano to sing that\nsweetly pathetic song:\n\n     \"Only waiting till the shadows\n     Have a little longer grown.\"\n\nHark? said the sick lady quickly sitting up at hearing the first\nnotes. Oh, that is my dear brother, Peter--his name signifieth\nLord. Please aid me to dress. I am really better, I am, indeed, do\nnot fear. I must go down to hear him sing. His charming voice\nhas lifted me into strength. I will take the tea. Though very pale,\nshe entertained that evening, and even sang, until midnight. Not\none of the party at that time was a Christian Science believer\neither.\n\nWe are only in the kindergarten of life. Some time we shall all\npossess the high art of selecting our friends and our life\ncompanions, my dear, eager, anxious inquirers. We have power\nin ourselves to grow. This was simply an unadulterated fact,\nproving the power of mind, soul and spirit on itself from the\nstimulus of the brother; there being also very much efficacy in\nthe harmony of tones as well as of personality. I wish more\npersons could be conscious of the power of the voice on the\nactions of all we come in contact with. We are now touching but\nslightly on the esoteric, as carnal desires are yet in full evidence.\n\nI have now in mind a sensitive lad of fourteen, who, after\nfour trying years ran away from a really good home and a\nstep-mother, because of her harsh tones. Though a good woman, his\nsoul-life seemed to suffer.\n\n\"The way she says things,\" said he, \"is awful to something in\nme, so that I want to fight. I can't help but shiver. Oh, I don't\nknow what it is. I want to be good. I know she does some nice\nthings.\"\n\nThough the young philosopher chose for himself a severe\ntaskmaster, with plenty of added work, yet, with some special\nkindliness in trustful tones that proved part-pay, some needed,\nminor chord was touched in the soul-life of the lad, that gave\nhim hope in himself and in his future, which proved very true.\nHe has long been a kind and useful citizen, in precepts for the\nyoung, and an object lesson to many. A practical, reasoning\nbenefactor of the race, as was the kindly Charles Dickens in the\ninterest of child-life. So let us work. These times are infinitely\nlarger, broader, and more full of promise to the world.\n\nOur musical friend has left the shadows that were then\ngathering about her life. Gone into the more perfect light and\nlife of her true inheritance, with God the loving parent of all\nhuman and divine joys.\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nSUPERSTITION.\n\nDo not hold to cowardice nor fear of death. The mad bull with\nthe spade stands near by. Look into this strange cup of figures\nand graves. Some recent death and gloom has somehow filled\nyour mind with renewed horror. You have also felt that you are\nabout to die. Not a comfortable thought, madam, to be snuffed\nout of all earthly hopes! Abandon your cringing fears. Dread\nnothing. You must gain mastery over these crude forebodings,\nor you will be seriously handicapped. Most discouraging is fear.\nThe spirit of conscious life cannot be annihilated. Man is\nimmortal. We should not doubt the word of God nor His prophecies.\n\nTowers, trees, and large scenes are in evidence to aid you into a\nlarger life career.\n\nSee you now the rubbish by the grave! enough to hopelessly\nentangle you. See the many wild animals in your path near the\ndung heap. Again the tears and the fears. You do not stand\nerect. Your ideas of the after-life seem to belie your professed\ncreeds. One of your sincere friends and true helpers requests my\ncandid service in your behalf as noting your vibrations. Thank\nyou.\n\nI will now proceed further with your sanction. Listen well: You\nbelong to a class who would send dinamic heart-beats to disturb\nyour entire bodily system on the subject of death. Were it a\nnecessity to perform even some slight operation, your death in\nthis state might easily ensue from very fear.\n\nMadam, how is one to overcome nature? I do not brag on my\nheroism as others do. I do fear death, the devil and his imps. I\nhave often dreamed of him as pursuing me. There must be\nsomething to it, as my father believed likewise. I want the good\ntime of life here. We don't know of the hereafter as promised.\n\nYoung man, your birth-right, your reason and education are at\nfault, if nineteen years of life's action has brought you no\nsolace. You are not in life's true logic, nor is the profession of\nlaw well chosen for you by your relatives, neither is the\nministry.\n\nYou now think you are in love with a good young girl. How\nwill you comfort her when sorrows come to you? She, too, fears\ndeath and pain beyond the ordinary. A pair of simple young\nfolks, indeed, both of you.\n\nSee, in this last cup the flame of destruction has come. You\nhave both lost your heads. Death and loss have invaded the\nhome. Everything is scattered about. No reason nor care\nremains. Indecision, crosses, and breaks are in promise. The\ngood symbols are yet distant, though inviting you to their ample\nfolds. You need first to be whipped into life's truer graces, as oft\nwe are. Your parents were weak, sympathetic and selfish.\n\nThere were five of you in family. The figure in first cup was\ncorrect, though not an old man there, that is three years past!\nand the one-armed man! that was long ago, too. Yes, but his\nletters yet lie near your family thoughts. Do not lose them, there\nis value attached. Yet there are imprisoned minds who do not\nknow their real possessions. Now, these bars and unformed\ncircles bespeak it. Behold the light on the obscure desk in the\nold square.\n\nOh yes, he was cheated out of his rights, years ago, yet father\nkeeps the letters. There is nothing in them now.\n\nYes there is, several years hence, by the death of a child and a\nlost woman from near an ocean city. News sudden will come to\nyou. Let your fancy concentrate a little on these letters.\n\nHow peculiar! There was one who died by water, that was a\nfamily connection.\n\nYou have now had three readings. Hold your true texts in mind.\nFear nothing but injustice. You will be tested. You will yet love\nthe ocean, even the lightning's fierce flashes, though after\nsudden peril and loss you will make acquaintance with your\nhigher self--not be so selfish nor material. Eight years of strange\nwanderings with indecision and betrayal by a false black hand,\nas shown you. Several gravestones and some sickness. After\nthese experiences you will awaken from some of life's medley\nof dreams and fears. You will then meet a strong, true woman,\nwho will dominate much of your nobler, latent life, and aid you\ninto position, if you do not mar your life's course in about three\nyears. Your hand reads likewise. In this last cup of yours are\nspears and weeds, with knives and hidden crosses. Your dangers,\nas here read, are very many.\n\nThere are so many small lives filled with idleness, though some\nuseful objects could oft be reached. Yours is largely among\nthese. Yet I am pleased to state you could yet become a fine\nmind and life trainer by the age of forty, if wise enough to select\nyour true helpers--good books. No one can work effectively\nalone. My mind has traveled with you up to these years, viewed\nthe field of resource and its possibilities. You should win two\nhelpful friends.\n\nOnly one comprehensive life-course reading has shown this\nentire evening. We do not gain the high art of holding the good\nwhich we gain, so profligate are we. Then we like to blame our\nfriends or the fates for our poor judgment and our obtuseness.\nUntil we begin to work as though we belong to and believe in\nan immortal life, as an inheritance, the great human family\ncannot enjoy that useful cohesion that belongs to mankind as\nGod designed life's distributives--our higher attributes.\n\nAgain, shun the man with the fire-arms and bottles. Behold the\nweapons. The dark pit lies near him with many cross-bars,\ncages and clouds. An evil combination--_imprisonment_, though\nyour sunlight has only been dimmed. If so, your will, patient\nlabor and strong desire can yet win for you. The flag of\nvictory is now so limp. This fear of kindly death or hell is the\nenemy of mankind. Do not again thus cringe to this fair angel of\nlife to all men eventually. You can live to old age and follow\nstreams, fishing as pastime. This old man symbolizes your dear\nself now calmed in mind--not so dead as in youth. So, hold\nyour true texts for ready action, and become a brave man to\nenjoy the true life here promised to you.\n\nIf we have stimulated in any heart some lofty resolves, which\nwill unfold their fragrance for other lives, we are then well\nrepaid, as trusting in the Infinite All Good.\n\nA pilgrim on the path.\n\nCLARA.\n\n[Illustration: calligraphy flourish 3]\n\n\nCUPOLOGY.\n\n_Significance similar to Psychic Readings, Clairvoyant\nSymbols, or Dreams_.\n\nIf high up in the cup--Early consummation.\n\nIf chained to the bottom--Delayed desires.\n\nUncle Sam--American matters. Statesmanship--Waving flags;\nHopeful signs.\n\nArm--Proffered aid\nAccordion--Primitive talent\nApples--Health, Knowledge\nAtlas--Sight, Seeing\nBats--Moral blindness\nBees--Thrift\nBed--Illness or need of rest\nBirds--News, Singing, Joys\nBridge--Some event in life\nBroom--Industry\nBread--To be sated\nCooks--Learning\nCake--Luxury\nCats--Jealousies\nChildren--Good omen\nCavern--Near danger\nCircles--Fine realizations\nCow--Good nutriment\nCrescent--Love token\nCattle--Thrift\nChildren at play--Universal good\nCrosses--Some trials\nChair--To preside\nChicks--Cares\nChickens--Gains\nCrowing Cock--Ambitious, Victory\nCrows--Intrigues\nDitch--Dangers ahead\nDogs--Friends\nDoor--Some opening\nDots--Letters, Papers, News\nEars--Listen well\nElephant--Some imposition\nEggs--Gains\nEyes--To observe\nFeet--Traveler\nFeet, bare--Poverty\nFish--Money, Gains\nFish, headless--Losses\nFlowers--Joy, Pleasure\nFloods--Sickness, Sorrow\nFountain--Public benefit\nFruit--Health\nForests--Nature loving\nFox--Cunning\nHearts--Artistic love of Unity, Friends, Home\nHand--Friendship\nHorse--Much news, Friend\nHorse, vicious--Angry friend\nHouses--Home building\nJewel-Box--Wealth\nJumping--Vitativeness\nLock and Keys--To be put in trust\nLion--Moral courage\nLedger--In accounts\nLighted Lamp--Great success\nLock--A secret\nMoon--Honors\nMonkeys--Evolution--Darwin\nMedals--Diplomas\nNews-Boys--Public excitement\nNuts--Problems\nOxen--Patient toil\nPalms--Restful victory\nPalm-Trees--Tropical scenes\nPark--Benevolence\nPlatform--Oration\nPitcher--To receive\nPublic seats--People's joy\nQuills--Old parchments\nRats--Thieving\nRing--Contract\n Near heart, Wedding\n With child or flowers, Bliss\nRoad--An outlook\nRabbit--Timidity, Cowardice\nRainbow--Sublime promise\nSaw or Scissors--Vexations\nScales--Love of justice\nStar--Hope, Promise\nSquares--Realizations\nSunlight--Vital life, Health\nShips--Commerce\nSinking Ships--Perils and loss\nSpring--Wisdom, Peace\nSnake--Enmity, Lies\nStaff--Aid\nSofa--Social or Courtship\nSpiders, or--\nScorpions--Illness, Venom\nSky-scenes--Sublimity and Peace\nTiger--Onslaught\nTall Shaft--Illustrious dead\nTable Set--Feasting\nTrees--Lofty thoughts\nTower--Strength\nUrns--Veneration, Retrospection\nWells--Wisdom and drawing forth good\nWheat--Plenty\nWhirlwind--Distraction\nWavy lines--Vexations\nWeeds--Petty trials\nWindow--In a new light\nMonks, Nuns, Priests or Ministers--betoken sectarian controversies\nScattered objects--Lack of harmony and no propitious time for action\n\nKeep the mind well centered in reading. Thus only will the\ntransmitting powers of soul expand the descriptive faculties.\n\n[Illustration: calligraphy flourish 4]\n\n\n     GIRLHOOD.\n\n     [AMELIA E. BARR.]\n\n     An exquisite incompleteness,\n     The theme of a song unset;\n     A waft in the shuttle of life;\n     A bud with the dew still wet;\n     The dawn of a day uncertain;\n     The delicate bloom of fruit;\n     The plant with some leaves unfolded,\n     The rest asleep at the root.\n\n\nPOPULAR TOASTS.\n\n[Illustration: American flag]\n\n_Our Flag:_ The beautiful banner that represents the precious\n_mettle_ of America.\n\n\n     OUR COUNTRY'S EMBLEM.\n\n     The Lily of France may fade,\n          The Thistle and Shamrock wither,\n     The Oak of England may decay,\n          But the Stars shine on forever.\n\n          * * *\n\n     The standard of Freedom floats proudly on high,\n          It's the bright waving Banner of Light,\n     Fair symbol of Liberty born of the sky,\n          True emblem of Union and Might.\n\n\nWEBSTER'S MOTTO.\n\nLiberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable.\n\n\n     SHIP OF STATE.\n\n     Nail to the mast her holy flag;\n          Set every threadbare sail;\n     And give her to the God of Storms,\n          The lightning and the gale.\n\n\n     A TOAST TO OUR NATIVE LAND.\n\n     Huge and alert, irascible yet strong,\n     We make our fitful way 'mid right and wrong.\n     One time we pour out millions to be free,\n     Then rashly sweep an Empire from the Sea!\n     One time we pull the shackles from the slaves,\n     And then, quiescent, we are ruled by knaves,\n     Often we rudely break restraining bars,\n     And confidentially reach out toward the stars.\n     Yet under all there flows a hidden stream,\n     Sprung from the Rock of Freedom, the great dream\n     Of Washington and Franklin, men of old,\n     Who knew that freedom is not bought with gold;\n     This Land we love, our heritage,\n     Strange mixture of the gross and fine, yet sage\n     And full of promise,--destined to be great,\n     Drink to Our Native Land--God bless the State!\n               --_Robert Bridges in the Atlantic_.\n\n          * * *\n\n     Here's to the man who loves his wife,\n          And loves his wife alone,\n     For many a man loves another man's wife,\n          When he ought to be loving his own.\n\n\nTOAST TO THE HORSE.\n\nDr. Kane, President of the New York Drivers' Association, at a\npublic dinner recently delivered the following toast to the horse:\n\n\"That bundle of sentient nerves, with the heart of a woman, the\neye of a gazelle, the courage of a gladiator, the docility of a\nslave, the proud courage of a king, and the blind obedience of a\ngood soldier. The companion of the desert and the plain; that\nturns the moist furrow in the spring in order that all the world\nmay have abundant harvests; that furnishes the sport of Kings;\nthat with blazing eye and distended nostril, fearlessly leads our\ngreatest Generals through carnage and the smoke of battle to\nglory and renown; whose blood forms one of the ingredients\nthat go to make the ink in which all history is written, and that\nfinally, mutely and sadly, in black trappings, pulls the humblest\nof us all to the newly sodded threshold of eternity.\"\n\n\nOUR ABSENT FRIENDS.\n\nAlthough out of sight we recognize them with our glasses.\n\n\n     FALSE FRIENDS.\n\n     Here's champagne for our real friends,\n     And real pain for our sham friends.\n\n\nOUR INCOMES.\n\nMay we have heads to earn and hearts to spend.\n\nHere's wishing us all more friends and less heed of them.\n\nMay we ever be able to serve a friend, and noble enough to\nconceal it.\n\n\n     THE SPHERE OF WOMAN.\n\n     They talk about a woman's sphere as though it had a limit;\n     There's not a place in earth or heaven,\n     There's not a task to mankind given,\n     There's not a blessing or a woe,\n     There's not a whispered yes or no,\n     There's not a life, or death, or birth,\n     That has a feather's weight of worth--\n          Without a woman in it.\n\n          * * *\n\n     Here's to the friends we class as old,\n          And here's to those we class as new,\n     May the new soon grow; to us old,\n          And the old ne'er grow to us new.\n\n\nA FEW TOASTS.\n\nWoman. She needs no eulogy--she speaks for herself.\n\nMay we have the unspeakable good fortune to win a true heart,\nand the merit to keep it.\n\nMay we never murmur without cause and never have cause to\nmurmur.\n\nWoman. The fairest work of the great Author; the edition is\nlarge and no man should be without a copy.\n\n     Happy are we met, happy have we been,\n     Happy may we part, and happy meet again.\n\n     May Satan cut the toes of all our foes,\n     That we may know them by their limping.\n\nThe man we love--he who thinks the most good and speaks the\nleast ill of his neighbors.\n\n          * * *\n\n          Our National birds--\n     The American eagle, the Thanksgiving turkey.\n     May the one give us peace in all our States--\n     And the other a piece for all our plates.\n\n          * * *\n\n     Here's to the girls of the American shore,\n     I love but one, I love no more,\n     Since she's not here to drink her part,\n     I'll drink her share with all my heart.\n\n     A little health, a little wealth,\n     A little house and freedom,\n     With some few friends for certain ends,\n     But little cause to need 'em.\n\n          * * *\n\nCol. Lovell H. Jerome, who resigned as second lieutenant\nSecond United States Cavalry, in 1879, and now repels the\ninvading smuggler in New York City, brought a new toast to the\nHoffman House bar recently:\n\n     To the ladies,\n     Our arms your defense,\n     Your arms our recompense,\n          Fall in!\n               --_New York Sun_.\n\n\nTHREE GREAT COMMANDERS.\n\nMay we always be under the orders of General Peace, General\nPlenty and General Prosperity.\n\nWe now toast the superb Electric Flag of the people with every\nhonorable Elk who has beautified and made memorable these\npleasures of the Queen City.--_Cincinnati, July, 1904_.\n\n          * * *\n\n     Though there's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip,\n          Yet, while o'er the brim of life's breaker I dip,\n     While there's life in the lip, while there's warmth in the wine,\n          One deep health I'll pledge, and that health shall be thine.\n               --_Owen Meredith_.\n\n\nA HINT ON ENTERTAINING.\n\n\"The most successful social functions are those managed by a\nhost and hostess,\" says a society scribe, \"not by either alone.\nLeave a man to make up a party and he is sure to forget that\nMrs. B. was engaged to C. before she married D., and that Mrs.\nC. is aware of the fact, and that the D.s and E.s have long been\nat daggers drawn, and he will have no eyes to detect the designs\nof Mrs. H. On the other hand, a woman gets nervous and fatigued\nwith the constant effort to keep the ball rolling, and fails\njust where a man would succeed. What is wanted is a division\nof labor, and if this were done oftener there would be less\ndisappointment on the part of entertainers and entertained.\"\n\n\nLOOK AT YOUR CUP.\n\nA cup of coffee, farmers assert, makes a pretty accurate\nbarometer:\n\n\"To make a barometer out of a cup of coffee,\" a farmer said,\n\"you must use loaf sugar. You drop a lump of this sugar exactly\ninto the middle of your cup, and then watch the bubbles rise. It\nis by these bubbles that your prognostications are made.\n\n\"If the bubbles rise straight up in the middle, remaining there in\na cluster till they disappear, the weather is to be fair; if they rise\nat the sides of the cup, adhering to the china, the weather will be\nrainy. If they rise all over the coffee's surface, and move here\nand there erratically, changeable conditions are to be looked\nfor.\"\n\n\nENTERTAINMENT SUGGESTION.\n\nHere are some ideas for an entertainment, which is said to be\nboth amusing and instructive, as it makes one think, and the\ntime put into anything that makes men or women think is never\nlost. Have an art gallery and invite your friends to it. Each\nperson is supplied with a catalogue and must pay a forfeit for\nevery piece of art he fails to find. Here is a sample of the\ncatalogue:\n\n1. The Bell of the Season. (A dinner bell.)\n2. Saved. (A bank containing a few pennies.)\n3. An Absorbing Subject. (A sponge.)\n4. A Drawing Subject. (A crayon.)\n5. The Skipper's Home. (Cheese.)\n6. A Young Man's Horror. (The mitten.)\n7. The Light of Other Days. (A candle.)\n8. Tears, Idle Tears. (An onion.)\n9. Can't be Beat. (A turnip.)\n10. The Four Seasons. (Salt, pepper, vinegar and mustard.)\n11. A Regular Bore. (A gimlet.)\n12. Family Jars. (Mason's fruit jars in three sizes.)\n13. True to the Core. (An apple.)\n14. A Prison Scene. (A mouse in a trap.)\n15. A Switchtender. (A hairpin.)\n16. A Bunch of Dates. (A calendar.)\n\nOf course, no one speaks in the art room.\n\nEvery guest fills in what names he can, hoping that his friends\nwill miss many more than he does. Have ten or more \"pieces of\nart\" than are on the catalogue. This is to mystify a little.\n\n\nHAVE A PEANUT?\n\nAn original young woman of Lamar has invented a new kind of\nsocial diversion. It is the \"progressive peanut party.\" Four\nguests are seated about each table, and on the table is placed a\ncrock full of peanuts. Each guest is provided with a hatpin, and\nwhen the word is given all begin jabbing for peanuts. The\nquartet that empties its crock first wins the game, and then the\nsets of players change. It is needless to say that the peanut party\nis strictly a \"hen\" function. A man couldn't jab a crockful of\npeanuts with a hatpin in a week, but the young women of Lamar\nplayed thirty games in a single afternoon.--_Kansas City Journal_.\n\n\nWHAT THE EYES TELL.\n\nThe color of the eyes has hitherto chiefly concerned the novelist\nand the poet, but lately the cold-blooded statistician has been\nlooking into them. It is announced that, taking the average of\nEurope and America, 44.6 per cent of men have light eyes,\nincluding blue and gray. The proportion of women having blue\nor gray eyes is 32.2 per cent. In other words, blue eyes are\ndecidedly rarer among women than among men, says the _London Express_.\n\nMen have light eyes oftener than women, but in the intermediate\nshades between light and dark the percentage of the two sexes\nis very nearly the same.\n\nIn this intermediate category are brown and hazel eyes. The\npercentage of these among men is 43.1, and among women 45.1.\n\nThe percentage of black eyes is larger among women than\namong men, being 20.7 per cent for the women, while among\nmen it is 12.3.\n\nBlue eyes are considered to possess great attractions. This was\nthe case among the Greeks and Romans of classic times. Upon\nthe Goddess of Minerva was bestowed a surname to signify the\nblueness of her eyes.\n\nGray eyes have ever been the ideal of all great novelists; among\nthe number Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, Wilkie Collins and\nCharles Reade. Most of the heroines in up-to-date fiction are\ngray-eyed maidens.\n\nOf the living great, as well as the famous dead, most have eyes\nof gray blue.\n\nShakespeare had eyes of gray; so had nearly all the English\npoets. Coleridge's eyes were large, light gray, prominent and of\nliquid brilliancy. Byron's eyes were gray, fringed with long\nblack lashes.\n\nCharles Lamb's glittering eyes were strangely dissimilar in\ncolor, one being hazel, the other having specks of gray in the\niris. Chatterton's brilliant gray eyes were his most remarkable\nfeatures. Under strong excitement one appeared brighter and\nlarger than the other.\n\nAs to green eyes they are for glory. The Empress Catherine of\nRussia had eyes of this hue. In Don Quixote green eyes are thus\nreferred to:\n\n\"But, now I think on it, Sancho, thy description of her beauty\nwas a little absurd in that particular of comparing her eyes to\npearls. Sure, such eyes are more like those of a whiting or a\nseabeam than those of a fair lady, and in my opinion, Dulcinea's\neyes are rather like two celestial emeralds, railed in with two\ncelestial arches, which signify her eyebrows. Therefore, Sancho,\nyou had better take your pearls from her eyes and apply them to\nher teeth.\" Green eyes are not popular, however. Cervantes\nspoke of them as \"verdant emeralds,\" that more usually they are\nlikened to the optics of the cat. Very few heroines have green\neyes. Jane Eyre and Rose, in Robert Elsmere, are the only two\nwe can think of at the moment.\n\n\nREVEALED BY THE THUMB.\n\nThe thumb is a great tell-tale where character is concerned.\nIf nose, eyes and mouth decline to reveal the secrets or\ntemperament, you need not be at a loss. Notice the hands, and\nespecially the thumb of the person whom you are seeking to\nread.\n\nA broad and short thumb indicates lack of refinement. Taken in\nconjunction with stubby finger tips and a thick wrist, it indicates\ncoarseness, even positive brutality.\n\nA tapering thumb gives notice of extreme delicacy of perception\nand refinement of character.\n\nA thumb of medium breadth indicates balance between the\nextremes mentioned, and denotes strength of character essential\nto success in life.\n\nIf when in repose the thumb curls outward, its owner possesses\na sound constitution, much vitality and cheerfulness.\n\nOn the contrary, if the thumb naturally falls inward towards the\npalm, a melancholy, despondent disposition is denoted, also\nconstitutional delicacy and lack of vitality.\n\n\nCHARACTERS IN FINGER NAILS.\n\nBroad nails denote a gentle natured person, inclined to be\nmodest and unassuming.\n\nNarrow nails denote a studious but not very gentle nature, with\na desire for scientific knowledge.\n\nWhite nails denote a fondness for society of opposite sex, not\noverstrong in health and subject to fevers.\n\nRound nails denote a desire for knowledge in general, apt to\ntake great pride in own accomplishments, rather hasty, yet fairly\ngood natured and forgiving.\n\nLong nails denote caution, lacking confidence in human nature,\ndecided in opinion and strictly virtuous.\n\nEyes are cold, enticing, sympathetic or affectionate. The mouth\nis kissable (as men say), cynical, cruel, sensuous or indifferent,\nand so with all the features.\n\n\nBEAUTY'S SEVEN NURSES.\n\nBeauty, it is said, has seven nurses, which, if given full charge,\nwill make of the homeliest woman a picture of charm and\nloveliness.\n\nThese magic seven are fresh air, sunshine, warmth, rest, sleep,\nfood and whatever stirs the blood, be it exercise or enthusiasm.\n\nBe sure to get plenty of sleep. You can sleep yourself into good\nlooks. A long nap and a hot bath will make any woman more\nattractive, and lift years from her shoulder.\n\nDon't be afraid of sunshine and fresh air. They offer you bloom\nand color. And deep breathing is surely the hand-maid of the\nfresh-air nurse. Deep breathing gives a fine figure as well as\nclear complexion.\n\nDon't sit down to table as soon as you come in from work, or a\nround of social duties. Lie down, or sit down, for ten minutes,\nwaiting until you can partake of your dinner with the physical\nmachinery rested and refreshed.\n\nDon't bathe in hard water. Soften it with a little powdered\nborax, or a handful of oatmeal.\n\nDon't bathe the face while it is very warm, or very cold.\n\nDon't wash the face when traveling, unless it is with a little\nalcohol and water, or a little cold cream.\n\nDon't attempt to remove dust with cold water. Give the face a\nhot bath with soap, and then rinse thoroughly with clear tepid or\ncold water.\n\nDon't rub the face with too coarse a towel. Treat it as you would\nthe finest porcelain, tenderly and delicately.--_Philadelphia Telegraph_.\n\n\nTO DISCOVER A WOMAN'S AGE.\n\nEvery man seems to be born with a desire to know the age of\nthe ladies with whom he comes in contact, and women also\nappear to have an innate curiosity concerning the number of\n\"summers\" which have passed over the heads of their female\nfriends. But there is nothing more difficult to discover than the\nexact age of a lady who wishes to keep the fact a secret.\n\nNow, here is a little scheme by which you can find out the age\nof any person.\n\nHaving engaged that person in pleasant conversation, you\nproceed something after the following manner--speaking very\ninnocently, of course:--\n\n\"There is a very simple problem in arithmetic which very few\npeople are able to see through, yet it is as easy as possible. I\nwonder if you can do it?\"\n\nThis sets the person on his dignity, and he or she wants to do it\nat once.\n\nThen you go on:\n\n\"Think of a number corresponding to the numerical order of the\nmonth in which you were born. Oh, no, you need not tell me.\"\n\n(To make the explanation clear, we will assume that the figure\nis two--standing for February--and that the age is 30.)\n\n\"Now, multiply that figure by 2,\" you continue, \"and add 5.\nDone that? Well, multiply that by 50 and add your own age.--\nFrom the total subtract 365, and to the total add 115. Now, what\nfigure have you got?\"\n\n\"230,\" replies the person addressed, \"Isn't that correct?\"\n\n\"Exactly,\" you exclaim, \"You are one of the very few persons\nwho have managed it.\"\n\nAnd you turn away to hide your smile of satisfaction at having\ndiscovered that your victim was born in February and that he is\nthirty years of age. You have arrived at this result by separating\nthe figures 230 into 2 (February) and 30. And you can do this\nwith everybody's age. Try it on your sweetheart.--_Tit-Bit_.\n\n\nHOW HE MAY BE WON.\n\nSome men have been found courageous enough to express\nthemselves on the subject, \"How to win a man.\" Here are the\nrequirements from a masculine point of view for winning a man\nworth having. The summer girl should cut this out and paste it\non her mirror:\n\nBe natural, be extremely fastidious in choosing friends, in\nconversation, in manners, and in dress.\n\nBe neat, for the well-groomed woman, though plain, is more\nattractive than the slovenly beauty.\n\nBe cheerful and fun-loving, be kind, unselfish, sympathetic and\naffectionate.\n\nBe interested in everything that will improve your mind and\nbroaden your views.\n\nBe orderly, systematic, and industrious, but do not waste time\non non-essentials. Good reading is far better than useless fancy\nwork.\n\nBe domestic and home-loving, secure as much knowledge as\npossible concerning house-hold affairs, and do not be ashamed\nto use it.\n\nBe athletic enough to keep in fine physical condition and just\nmanly enough to be self-reliant and courageous, but not so\nindependent as to forget for one moment that you are a woman.\n\nCultivate a liking for children and old people, for you must\nremember that you have been the one and will be the other if\nyou live long enough.\n\nDo not appear to be superior, even if you know that you are, one\ncan easily be mistaken on this point.\n\nDo not be conceited or vain, do not be silly or gushing, or too\neager.\n\nDo not be late and yet do not waste time in being too early;\nstudy repose of manner, it is so restful to tired nerves.\n\nDo not nag either before or after he is won; the \"I told you so\"\nhas lost many a friend and lover.\n\nBe frank, and truthful and forgiving, and remember that\nforgetting must often go with forgiving. This, of course, is the\nideal woman, but the standard is not too high for any girl to\nstrive for.--_Philadelphia Telegraph_.\n\n\nDEW DROPS.\n\nWisdom is the flower of experience.\n\nHope is good, but hustle is better.\n\nEnergy, however, usually follows encouragement.\n\nA soft answer sootheth, but a wise one shameth.\n\nThe genius never regarded as a crank is yet to be born.\n\nDo as I say, not as I do: Preaching love with a jealous heart.\n\nTo move through the world without the dissent of others: Be\ntemperate and pay your debts.\n\nHappiness is not so difficult to obtain as to retain.\n\nWho will not work without pay should also be consistent\nenough to refuse pay without work.\n\nHeart and head are two masters who may be served by one\nhand.\n\nHuman deification, permitted or self implied, is an offense\nagainst Deity.\n\n\nBIRTH STONES FOR LUCK.\n\nDo you want that mysterious thing that is called \"good luck?\"\nOf course you do. Then in some form or another you must\nalways wear your birth stone. This is declared to be, by the\nsuperstitious, a true talisman against all the ills that flesh is heir\nto.\n\nUpon her finger in a handsome ring the very modern girl wears\nthe stone that means good omen to her, and feels that she is\nsecure from harm. If it is not in a little golden circlet upon her\nhand, then perchance she wears it at her throat, in one of the\nlittle dingle dangles that are so fashionable. But about her neck,\nin her fob, or bangle, the lass who wishes to cast a spell of good\nfortune about herself, somewhere wears the stone that is\nassigned to the month in which she first saw the light of day.\n\nIn what month were you born? Do you know what is your birth\nstone? If you do not you better at once discover the stone and\nbegin to wear it. That is, if you wish good luck, and what\nmaiden ever lived who does not sigh for it.\n\nHere is a list of the gems, and the months to which they are\nassigned by those soothtellers who know all the signs for luck,\ngood or ill: For January, garnet; February, amethyst; March,\njasper; April, sapphire; May, chalcedony; June, emerald; July,\nonyx; August, carnelian; September, chrysolite; October,\naquamarine; November, topaz; December, ruby.\n\n\nKRUGER'S UNLUCKY DIAMOND.\n\nWhen Kruger went to Europe he took with him a famous\ndiamond, which was said to have brought misfortune and death\nto all its possessors. It had a strange history.\n\nThe diamond originally belonged to Meshhesh, a Basuto chief,\nfrom whom it was extorted by T'Chaka, the Zulu King. T'Chaka's brother\nkilled him and stole the stone. The brother came to grief and the\ngem passed into the possession of a Zulu chief, who soon afterward\nwas assassinated. The natives say that no less than sixteen of the\nsuccessive possessors of the diamond were either killed or driven\nout of the country for the sake of the gem.\n\nThe diamond was then seen by white men who sought to possess it.\nA party of whites attacked the natives who had the stone in their\npossession, and a fierce fight ensued, in which 300 lives, mostly\nnatives, were lost.\n\nMemela, a native chief, took the gem and concealed it in a\nwound which he had received in the battle. Afterward Memela\nwas caught by the Boers and set to work as a slave. Kruger,\nhearing his story, released him, and in gratitude Memela gave\nthe stone to his liberator. Some years passed, and then Kruger\nmet his misfortune.\n\nWhere the fatal diamond is now is not certain, though it is\ncertain that the ex-President of the Transvaal parted with it.\nSome say that it is in the coffers of the Vatican, and some that it\nwas sold to the Emperor of Austria, and is now among the\ncrown jewels of Vienna.\n\nThe stone is said to be 200 carats in weight, but is not perfect.--\n_Baltimore Sun_.\n\n\nSTRANGE WILLS.\n\nThere have not been many will makers more eccentric than Mr.\nMacCraig, the Scotch banker, whose last testament will shortly\ncome under the consideration of the Edinburgh Court of Session.\nMr. MacCraig it may be remembered left instructions in his\nwill that gigantic statues of himself, his brothers and sisters,\na round dozen in all, should be placed on the summit of a great\ntower he had commenced to build on Battery Hill, near Oban--each\nstatue to cost not less than $5,000.\n\n          * * *\n\nA much more whimsical testator was a Mr. Sanborn, of Boston,\nwho left $5,000 to Prof. Agassi, to have his skin converted into\ndrum-heads and two of his bones into drumsticks, and the\nbalance of his fortune to his friend, Mr. Simpson, on condition\nthat on every 17th of June he should repair to the foot of Bunker\nHill, and, as the sun rose, \"beat on the drum the spirit stirring\nstrain of Yankee Doodle.\"\n\n          * * *\n\nA Mr. Stow left a sum of money to an eminent King's counsel,\n\"Wherewith to purchase a picture of a viper stinging his\nbenefactor,\" as a perpetual warning against the sin of ingratitude.\n\n          * * *\n\nIt was a rich English brewer who bequeathed $150,000 to his\ndaughter on condition that on the birth of her first child she\nshould forfeit $10,000 to a specified hospital, $20,000 on the\nbirth of the second child, and so on by arithmetical progression\nuntil the $150,000 was exhausted.\n\n          * * *\n\nSydney Dickenson left $300,000 to his widow, who appears to\nhave given him a bad time during his life, on condition that she\nshould spend two hours a day at his graveside, \"in company\nwith her sister, whom I know she hates worse than she does\nmyself.\"\n\n\nLAUGHAGRAPHS.\n\nIt is related of George Clark, the celebrated negro minstrel, that,\nbeing examined as a witness, he was severely interrogated by\nthe attorney, who wished to break down his evidence. \"You are\nin the negro minstrel business, I believe?\" inquired the lawyer.\n\"Yes, sir,\" was the prompt reply. \"Isn't that rather a low\ncalling?\" demanded the lawyer. \"I don't know but what it is,\nsir,\" replied the minstrel, \"but it is so much better than my\nfather's that I am rather proud of it.\" \"What was your father's\ncalling?\" \"He was a lawyer,\" replied Clark, in a tone of regret\nthat put the audience in a roar. The lawyer let him alone.\n\n\n     THE MAN WHO CAN MAKE US LAUGH.\n\n     God bless the man who can make us laugh.\n          Who can make us forget for a time,\n     In the sparkling mirth of a paragraph,\n          Or a bit of ridiculous rime,\n     The burden of care that is carried each day,\n          The thoughts that awaken a sigh,\n     The sorrows that threaten to darken our way,\n          God bless the dear man say I.\n\n\nQUEER BLUNDERS.\n\nIllegible copy has caused innumerable amusing and not a few\nserious blunders in print. A speaker quoted these lines:\n\n     O, come, thou goddess fair and free,\n     In heaven yclept Euphrosyne.\n\nThey were printed as written:\n\n     O, come, thou goddess fair and free,\n     In heaven she crept and froze her knee.\n\nThe reporter was following sound. Here is another illustration:\n\n     Those lovely eyes bedimmed,\n     Those lovely eyes be dammed.\n\nA Congressman advocated grants of public land to \"actual\nsettlers.\" It got in the paper as \"cattle stealers.\" A reporter tried\nto write that \"the jury disagreed and were discharged,\" but the\ncompositor set it up \"the jury disappeared and were disgraced.\"\nThe last words in a poorly written sentence, \"Alone and\nisolated, man would become impotent and perish,\" were set up\nas \"impatient and peevish.\"\n\n\nA MYSTERIOUS TELEGRAM.\n\nA certain church society in Vermont resolved on a Christmas\nfestival, and determined to have a scripture motto, handsomely\nilluminated, in a space back of the pulpit. One of the deacons,\nwho had business in Boston, took with him the proposed motto\nand the measure of the space to be occupied by it, but unfortunately\nlost the memorandum. He therefore sent this telegram to his wife\nin Vermont. \"Send motto and space.\" She promptly complied,\nbut the Boston telegraph girl fell off her chair in a faint\nwhen she read off the message, \"Unto us a child is born four\nfeet wide and eight feet long.\" The deacon, however, thought\nit nothing uncommon.\n\n          * * *\n\nMistress: Did the fisherman who stopped here this morning\nhave frog legs?\n\nNora: Sure, mum, I dinnaw. He wore pants.--_Cornell Widow_.\n\n          * * *\n\n\"Goodness,\" exclaimed the nervous visitor \"what vulgar little\nhoodlums those noisy boy are out there in the street!\"\n\n\"I can't see them,\" said the hostess, \"I'm rather near-sighted, you\nknow.\"\n\n\"But surely you can hear how they're shouting and carrying on.\"\n\n\"Yes, but I can't tell whether they're my children or the\nneighbors.\"--_Philadelphia Press_.\n\n\nFORTUNE.\n\nA divinity of fools, a helper to the wise.\n\n\nDEAD EASY.\n\nFunnicus--It's a queer thing, but all the men employed at the\ncemetery are historical characters.\n\nDullwum--How do you make that out?\n\nFennicus--They're mound builders, aren't they?\n\n\nA BAD SPELL OF WEATHER.\n\nDear Paw--I am having a luvly time, so do not expeck me home\nontill next week. All are well and send luv. The wethur is brite\nand fare. Yure sun, WILL.\n\n\nFOR AN EVENING GAME.\n\nAt a club social the hostess proposed a game of \"sobriquets,\"\noffering a prize for the one who would identify the largest\nnumber of the assumed names.\n\nShe gave to each one a slip of paper on which were typewritten\nthe assumed names of numerous persons, mostly writers, and at\na signal allowed them twenty minutes in which to write the\ncorrect names opposite. A few illustrations are here given, but\nothers may be added:\n\n1 Currer Bell -- Charlotte Bronte\n2 Mark Twain -- Samuel Clemens\n3 Uncle Remus -- Joel Chandler Harris\n4 Boz -- Charles Dickens\n5 Bard of Avon -- Shakespeare\n6 Peasant Bard -- Robert Burns\n7 Poet of Nature -- Wordsworth\n8 Immortal Dreamer -- Bunyon\n9 The Traitor -- Benedict Arnold\n10 Little Corporal -- Napoleon Bonaparte\n11 Mr. Dooley -- Peter Dunne\n12 Oliver Optic -- William T. Adams\n13 Gail Hamilton -- Mary A. Dodge\n14 Grand Old Man -- Gladstone\n15 Poor Richard -- Benjamin Franklin\n16 Swedish Nightingale -- Jennie Lind\n17 Brother Jonathan -- Jonathan Trumbull\n18 Father Endeavor -- Francis Clark\n19 Tippecanoe -- General Harrison\n20 George Sand -- Mme. Dudevant\n21 Ian Maclaren -- John Watson\n22 Timothy Titcomb -- J. G. Holland\n23 Ik Marvel -- Donald G. Mitchell\n24 Mrs. Partington -- B. P. Shillaber\n25 The Learned Blacksmith -- Elihu Burritt\n26 Peter Parley -- Samuel G. Goodrich\n27 Autocrat of the Breakfast Table -- Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes\n28 Uncle Sam -- United States\n\n\nSOMETHING TO REMEMBER.\nRULERS, PRESIDENTS AND MINISTERS WHO HAVE BEEN SLAIN OR ATTACKED\nWITHIN THE CENTURY.\n\nNapoleon I, attempted, December 24, 1800.\nPaul, Czar of Russia, March 24, 1801.\nSpencer Perceval, Premier of England, May 11, 1812.\nGeorge IV, attempted, January 28, 1817.\nAndrew Jackson, President United States, attempted January 30, 1835.\nLouis Philippe, of France, many attempts, from 1835 to 1846.\nFrederick William, of Prussia, attempt, May 22, 1850.\nFrancis Joseph, of Austria, February 18, 1853.\nFerdinand, Charles III, Duke of Parma, March 27, 1854.\nIsabella II, of Spain, three attempts, from 1847 to 1856.\nNapoleon III, three attempts, from 1855 to 1858.\nDaniel, Prince of Montenegro, August 13, 1860.\nAbraham Lincoln, President United States, April 14, 1865.\nMichael, Prince of Servia, June 10, 1868.\nPrim, Marshal of Spain, December 28, 1870.\nRichard, Earl of Mayo, Governor-General of India, February 8, 1872.\nAbdul Aziz, Sultan of Turkey, June 4, 1876.\nWilliam I, of Prussia, three attempts, from 1861 to 1876.\nAlexander II, Czar of Russia, six attempts and finally killed by\n     explosion of bomb, March 13, 1881.\nMohammed Ali, Pasha, September 7, 1878.\nHumbert I, King of Italy, attempt, November 17, 1878.\nLord Lytton, Viceroy of India, attempt, December 12, 1878.\nAlfonso XII, of Spain, two attempts, 1878-79.\nBrattiano, Premier of Roumania, attempt, December 14, 1880.\nJames A. Garfield, President United States, July 2, 1881.\nCarter H. Harrison, Mayor of Chicago, October 28, 1893.\nMarie Francois Carnot, President of France, June 24, 1894.\nNasr-ed-Din, Shah of Persia, May 1, 1896.\nStanislaus Stambouloff, Premier of Bulgaria, July 25, 1895.\nCanovas del Castillo, Prime Minister of Spain, August 8, 1897.\nJuan Idarte Borda, President of Uruguay, August 25, 1897.\nJose Maria Reyna Barrios, President of Guatemala, February 18, 1898.\nEmpress Elizabeth, of Austria, September 10, 1898.\nEdward VII, of England, attempt, April 4, 1900.\nHumbert, King of Italy, July 29, 1900.\nWilliam McKinley, President United States, September 6, 1901.\nAlexander, King of Servia, June 11, 1903.\nDraga, Queen of Servia, June 11, 1903.\nGovernor General Bobrikoff, of Finland, June 16, 1904.\nVon Plehve, Minister of the Interior, Russia, July 28, 1904.\n\n\n     THE FOUR LEAVED SHAMROCK.\n\n     \"I'll seek the four leaved shamrock\n          In all its fairy dells,\n     And if I find its charmed leaves,\n          Oh how I'll weave my spells.\n     I would not waste my magic might\n          On diamonds, pearls or gold,\n     Such treasures tire the weary heart,\n          Their triumphs are but cold.\n\n     But I would play the enchanter's part\n          In casting bliss around,\n     And not a tear or aching heart\n          Should in the world be found.\"\n\n          * * * * *\n\n     \"To wealth I would give honor,\n          I'd dry the mourner's tears,\n     And to the pallid cheeks restore\n          The bloom of happier years;\n     And friends that had been long estranged,\n          And hearts that had grown cold,\n     Should meet again like parted streams\n          And mingle as of old.\n\n     And thus I'd play the enchanter's part\n          In casting bliss around,\n     And not a tear or aching heart\n          Should in the world be found.\"","title":"Cupology: How to Be Entertaining","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":16991}